We started our day by driving 45 minutes to a beach called Playa el Arbolito which was a part of the National Park. The beach was tucked away off of the dirt road and there were a couple other people on the beach besides us. There was also a 1 mile hike where you could climb to and then snorkel down but we chose to just snorkel from the beach.
I still remember my first time snorkeling in Hawaii when I was a child and how bright and colorful the coral was. The coral in Hawaii is sadly no longer as bright due to the sunscreen bleaching and amount of people who snorkel there. Here, on this private remote beach that few brave the dirt road for, the coral was beautiful. It was a vivid color of pink and there were fish of all sizes and shapes swimming through it. There were rocks that framed the beach on either side and that was where the majority of the coral lay. We saw long fish with tubed mouths, tiny fish, bright blue fish, yellow fish, and so much more. My favorites were the bright yellow fish that stood out against the coral and the white and orange eels that looked just like snakes. As we swam from one side of the beach to the other we found a small sea turtle swimming! Seeing and being able to swim with the sea turtles is by far my favorite part of snorkeling! Turtles are definitely one of my favorite animals and such beautiful creatures. As we were following the turtle, River called me over to see some stingrays. There were some baby stingrays at the bottom and a much larger one. I had never seen a stingray before so I have to say that was a highlight.
We spent approximately 3 hours at the beach snorkeling and then posing for the last of our group photos together before heading back to the palacio for our regular programming of swimming in the beach and pool. For dinner we grilled some fish for tacos then played a word game called Boggle which we have been mastering throughout the week.
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